1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to card games, and more particularly, to baseball-related card games which participants play while watching or listening to a baseball game.
2. Description of the Related Art
Baseball is one of the most favorite team sports played or watched in the United States and Japan. Thousands of games are played in front of millions of fans in stadiums, on television, on radio and, more recently, over the World Wide Web.
While the game of baseball is a relatively simple sport, the advanced skill levels of professional players and the individual match-ups between the pitcher and hitters adds excitement to the game for baseball enthusiasts. There are games, however, that are slow and sometimes boring to some spectators. This is especially true for part-time baseball enthusiasts and to young fans who come to the game to catch a fly ball or receive a free T-shirt.
Today, many ballparks have large display screens located above the grandstand and overlooking the outfield. During the game, the displays are used to show a photograph or statistics for the player currently at bat or on deck, or to show a replay of an event that just occurred on the field. In between innings, the displays are often used to show humorous film clips or short video contests that spectators are encouraged to watch to predict the answer or winner.
What is needed is an entertainment device for spectators that enables them to watch and participate in a live or recorded baseball game.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a card game played by spectators as they watch a baseball game.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a card game that is simple to play and easy to learn by novice and expert baseball fans.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a card game that uses the xe2x80x9clivexe2x80x9d action of the players during the baseball game.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a game that can be played the ballpark where the game is played or at a remote location in front of a television, radio, or computer.
These and other objects of the invention that will become apparent are met by a baseball-related card game played by individuals watching or listening to a baseball game. The game consists of a deck of nine cards with one of nine possible baseball-related actions or events that can occur to a batter when batting printed on their front surface. Prior to the first pitch to a batter, the deck of cards is evenly distributed among two to nine card players. The card players examine their cards and consider the likelihood that the end batting event depicted on the face of one of their cards will occur for the next batter, taking into consideration the skill of the batter, the pitcher, and the game situation. The card player who holds the card that matches the end batting event that eventually occurs to the batter, wins the round. The cards are then reshuffled and distributed to the card players before the first pitch is delivered to the next batter.
An optional betting opportunity may be used with the game in which the card players are given an opportunity to place a wager against the other card players that they hold a card that depicts the upcoming end batting event.